BRISTOL, Tenn. – With the symbolic Indianapolis 500 vastly approaching and the chatter about whether or not a NASCAR driver would ever again lineup for one of the prestigious events in all of Auto Racing, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kurt Busch flipped the conversation and said he’d like to see a certain IndyCar driver participate in NASCAR.
“I’d love to see a guy like Marco Andretti come and run Daytona,” Busch said Friday morning at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I think that would be a huge event for him, for our sport. It’s tough for our cars though because they’re so big and they’re so heavy. They move around so much so go to a track that either A, what you’re used to, which is a road course, or, B, where the driver has the least amount to have to learn or to conquer or to – I guess the key word is master. I can’t master an Indy Car in one race.
“Alexander Rossi, the kid won the Indy 500 last year. Did he master the car? No. But he mastered enough of the certain sequences it takes, and I think Marco would do real well at a Daytona-style track because he loves the draft and he loves to be around other cars. That’s what I would think would work the best.”
Andretti responded to the suggestion on Twitter with a tweet saying, “sign me up.”
When it comes from a NASCAR perspective, Busch, the 2017 Daytona 500 champion is qualified to nominate the son of IndyCar icon Michael Andretti as a worthy candidate for a tryout in stock cars.
Busch was a teammate to the young Andretti during the 2014 Indianapolis 500 in a one-race deal driving the No. 26 SureTone Honda for Andretti Autosport. After crashing once during the month of May, Busch rallied back to qualify 12th and finish sixth in his lone IndyCar start to date.
Quickly after the race, Busch flew to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway with little time to spare to compete in NASCAR’s Memorial weekend tradition, the Coca-Cola 600. Engine failure on Lap 271 relegated the Stewart-Haas Racing driver from completing all 1100 miles, finishing 38th.
Over the course of the last 15 years or so, NASCAR has seen a plethora of IndyCar and Open Wheel stars and figures try their hand.
From Juan Pablo Montoya to Dario Franchitti and event current Cup competitor Danica Patrick, the curiosity continues to spike even with former IndyCar competitor and CART champion Jimmy Vasser and driver turned announcer Paul Tracy taking a turn in XFINITY competition in 2003 and 2006 respectively. Though the finishes weren’t impressive, the hype and interest certainly kept the meter pegged leading up to the checkered flag.
Despite the varying differences of opinions surrounding the short or long-term impact on two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso’s highly anticipated Indianapolis 500 debut next month, any dose of a figure like Andretti, Graham Rahal, Alexander Rossi or Josef Newgarden is more likely than not to move the needle in NASCAR and impact the sport in a positive way.
@Knighter01 @KurtBusch Sign me up.
— Marco Andretti (@MarcoAndretti) April 21, 2017
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
